Safety lock for automobiles



Mmh 9,1926. 1,576,320 G. FORTIN SAFETY LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed June 18, 1925 I5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I j Y lnventor flan/ya- 2 01 1222 Mmmey March 9 1926. 1,576,320

G. FORTIN SAFETY LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed June 18. 1925 3 Shets-Sheet 2 I nt -6e0y 157/22 By g i 'Inve or S AFETY LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILES g Filed June 18, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 2 1 25 725 "F? {6 24 2f 15 22 8/6 /a 16 24 2:5 N f? mmlmulr r h v 19'" I x u I 5 K I unml l gr M 2.5 l

Attox ney Patented Mar. 9, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE-.1.

GEORGES EORTIIN, OE QUEBEC, QUEBEC, CANADA, ASSIGNOR E ONE-HALF TO ADJ UTOR BRULO-TTE,

OF QUEBEC, CANADA.

SAFETY LUCK FOR AUTQMOTBIIlESZ.

A iimm filed; June 18, 1925'- S'erial No, 33,021.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I,. Gnonens Fomrm, subject of. the King of Great. linxitoin residing at Quebec Province of Quebec, Canada,

have invented: certain new and; usetul. Improvements: Safety Locks for AIMQIILO- hides; and I do hereby declare that. the 01.- lowing is; a hill, clear, and exact descrip tion oi the: invention, such as: will enable others skilled; in. the out to. which it up pertains to; make. and. use.- the some.

The present invention pertains toa; novel safety lock for automobiles designed to control: 2L switch: in the magneto circuit.

fliho principal object oi the invention is i the provision odi a; device of this character wherehytheswitch may be locked in open position in order: toprevent unauthorized starting, of. the car. In the accomplishment of thisv object there is: provided on the dashboard a housing through. which the magnetov conductor is passed. In the conductor: and Within the housing is disposed the switch controlling the magneto circuit. The hous ing also contains alever for opening the switch from the exterior of the-housing, and: this: lever is. operatively connected to. a slide which brings obstructing member into the path. of. the lever to; prevent the latter from being returned. to close the switch. A permutation lock is mounted within. the housing; the bolt thereof is connected to.- the slide. Consequently, when the obstructing member ishrought into the path of the lever in. the manner outlined, it may be locked. in this position so that the obstruction cannot be removed without knowledge of the combination of the lock...

The invention is fully disclosed inv the following description and in the accompanying d-mwi-ngs in which :2

Figure l, isa perspective view of an auto mobile showing the device of. the invention applied thereto Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the device of the invention, showing the posit-ionv of parts when the car is running Figure 3 is an .end view taken inside the housing of the device 5:

Eigtwe: 4a is; w perspective view of the device;

Figure 5 is a sectiona'lvicw to. Figure 2 but showing position of pants prior to opening the switch Figure 6 is a section on: the line: (is-6. of

Figure. 5:;

Figure is a the loch; H

Figures: 8 and 9 areatragmentary diemct' rical sections in diiferent planes, of. thelocke0 ing mechanism;

F gm-12o IE0 is a). section. similor'to: Figures 2 and 5 showing the switch. looked in open position Figure 11 is a complete dianietrical section of the: lock, on the line 11.ll ozi F'gure 121;,

F'gure; is a plan view of thel'och. with the casing; thereof reinomedl;

Figures 13 14; are fragmentary longi tudinal sections 01% the lock. taken by bolt showing the latter in locked and release positions respectively and Figure 15 is in fimgnuentary longitudinel' section taken over the toothed. wheel.

Reference.- to these views willnow be made by use of; like characters which are em? ployed to designate corresponding parts tl-iro-ughout.

, Figure. l the numeral 1 indicates an 30 automobile hstviugv an dashboard 2 in the usual mention. In the dosh-board is inserted the device ot the invention which vcomp-raises a box-like housing 3 having its front; wall 4 lying; in the plane of the dashboard 'Ehe 35 well 4, is tour-nod with at circular seat; 5 havplain view of the ring in ing an aperture in its centre. The seat receives the outer disc 7 of 2b permutation lock (Figure 11); while the. spindle 8; oi the lock passes through the aperture 65 and into theinterior of thehousing. spindle; 8 is provided atits outer. end with ZHLQPGIELitiingknob 9',- and between. the knob and disc is mounted a: graduated dial. 1.0: the

spindle and adapted to co-operatewithop v propria-te markings? on t-hewall' 4: in a. manner. already Well: known in the alt.

The lock' consists-of a base secured. to-

the inner face of the wall 4 by means of screws 12. This base is formed with a circular wall 13 which is threaded on its outer surface for the reception of a suitable cap or look casing 14 which is applied after the interior mechanism of the lock has been assembled. The inner end of the spindle 8 is journa-led in the cap. as clearly-illustrated in Figure 11. The base is also formed with a rib 15 which lies inside the wall, 13 and has the spindle 8 at its centre. Within this rib is disposed a circular plate 16 having a forwardly extending flange 1'? which-rides on the base 11 and holds the plate spaced therefrom. At the outer tace' of the plate is mounted a toothed wheel 18 surrounded by a ring 19 also lying on the plate. The ring has an inwardly projecting tooth 20 and an outwardly extending lug 21 at diametricallyopposite points. -The tooth. 20 is permanently received in one of the notches of the toothed wheel and may have its position changed for altering the combination of the lock. Finally, a disc 22 is mounted over the gear and ring in order to hold together the. parts of the lock already mentioned.

In the annular space between the wall 13 and rib 15 are mounted apair of collars 23 and 24 which are held to one another by means of screws 25. The lower collar 23 has I V a flange 23 engaging the base 11, while the remaining collar has a similar flange 24 engaging the flat wall of the casing 14. The

. shown in Figure 12. Through one of the slotsis passed a screw 28 entering the lower collar" 23 (Figure 8) and holding a block 29 upon the other collar 24. Front this block-projects an car 30 which lies in the circular path of the lug 21. I

The base 11 has a slot 31 in which slides a bolt 32. The cylindrical members 17, 15, 23, 13 and wall of the casing 14 have slots 17, 15, 23', 13 and 14 respectively or the same width as'the slot 31 and adapted to be brought into alinement and over the latterto permit passage of teeth 33 on the bolt 32 and consequently to permit movement of the bolt. 3

In the operation of the lock the combination being known, the first movement of the knob 9 is to turn the toothed wheel 18 which carries the ring 19 so that the lug 21 of the latter engages the'ear 30 and moves the two collars 23 and 24. In this manner the slot 23" in the flange 23 is brought over the slot 31. The knob is now turned in the opposite direction whereby the lug'21 is moved away from the ear. 30 without altectingthef position of the slot 23. This movement however turns the plate 16'tobring the slot 17 over the slot '31 and in alinement with the slot 23' already adjuste-d." The fixed members'15, l3 and 14 are obviously adjusted so that their slots are permanently disposed over the slot 31. lVhen the combination has been established in the manner described, the bolt is free to move. Otherwise, with either of the members 17 or 23 disposed over the slot 31, movement of the bolt is obstructed.

To the postis pivoted a switch blade 39 adapted to enter the clip 38, and thereby closes the break,

Within the housing, a lever 40 is pivoted to the front wall 4 at a fixedpo-int. 41. The free end of the lever carries a knob 42 which projects through a slot. 43 to theexterior of the housing. The lever is connected to the switch blade 39 by a pair of links .44 and 45 so that the-levercontrols the switch. The

lever is normally held raised to closing'position by means or a spring 46 hearing against it and alsoagainst a lug 47 secured to the wall or the housing. 1

To the-inner face of the wall 4 are secured a plurality of guide blocks 48 surrounding the lock casing 14. Each such block has a tenon 49as shown inFigure 3. Over these blocks is mounted a slide 50 in the shapeof a yoke and having a plurality of abutments 51 formed with dovetail grooves52 in which the tenons 49 are re ceived. 1111 this manner the slide is supported for movement longitudinally of the housing 3. The slide also carries a knob 53 projecting through a slot 54 to the exterior of rectly if desired. One endof the slide is connected to the lock'bolt 32 while the other end carries a finger 55 adapted to be moved over the slot 43 and into the path of the lever 40'as illustrated in Figures 2 and 10.

The pivoted end of the lever 40has fixed thereto a straight li11k57. connected to another arm'58 which is pivoted to a fixed point 59011 the inner face of the wall 4. At this pivot point, a curved link'oO is attached to the arm 58, and the free end of the latter is pivoted to a slotted link 61. On the slide 50 is mounted a pin 62 which extends into the slot 61 of the link 61.

l Vhen current is to be supplied to the magneto inthe running of the automobile, the switch is closed as in Figure 2. In this position the finger 55 lies over the slot 43 in order to-prevent retraction of the lever 40 and opening of the switch. After the automobile has been stopped and it is desired to open the switch, the slide50 is moved by means of the knob 53 to-the position shown This link is also- 'the housing whereby it may be actuated diin Figure 5 inorder to remove the finger 55 from the path, of the lever. The lever is now brought downwardly bymeans of the knob 42,-the lock being at this time in. open position as shown in Figure '15-. Upon turning of the lever about its pivot, the link 57 is shifted, causing rotation of the arm 58 andthe curved-link 60 attached thereto. The slotted link 61 is thereby removed towards the lock whereby the bolt 32 is inserted in the lock and the finger 55 brought over the slot43 to prevent return of the lever. The lock is now set to the position shown in Figure 13 to hold the bolt within the lock, so that the lever cannot be returned to close the switch unless the lock is opened by use of the proper combination. The position 01": parts when the switch is held open is shown in Figure 10. It will be apparent that the foregoing constitutes an effective device for preventing theft of the automobile, since the magneto circuit cannot be closed without knowledge of the combination of the lock.

lVhile a specific embodiment of the invention has beenillustrated and described, it is to be understood that various alterations in the details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as indicated by the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is 1. A circuit control device comprising in combination with a housing and a switch mounted therein, a lever pivoted in said housing and connected to the blade of the switch, a slide mounted in said housing and operable by said lever, an obstructing member carried by said slide and adapted to enter the path of said lever, a lock attached to said housing, and a bolt connected to'said slide and adapted to enter said lock.

2. A circuit control device comprising in combination with a housing and a switch mounted therein, a lever pivoted in said housing and connected to the blade of the switch, a slide mounted in said housing and operable by said lever, an obstructing member carried by said slide and adapted to enter the path of said lever, a lock attached to said housing, a bolt connected to said slide and adapted to enter said look, a knob carried by said slide and extending to the exterior of the housing for independent actuation of said slide 3. A circuit control device comprising in combination with a housing and a switch mounted therein, a lever pivoted in said housing and connected to theblade ofsaid switch, yoke slidably mounted-in the housing and operatively connected to said lever and a finger carried by said yoke and adapted to enter the path of said lever.

4. A circuit control device comprising in combination with a housing and a switch mounted therein, a lever pivoted in said I housing and connected to the blade oi said switch, ayoke sliidably mounted in the hous ing and operativcly connected to said lever, a finger carried by said yoke and adapted to enter the path of said: lever, a lock attached to said housing, and a bolt connected to said yoke and adapted to enter said lock.

5. A circuit control device comprising in combination with a housing and a switch mounted therein, a lever pivoted in said housing and connected to the blade of said switch, yoke slidably mounted in the housing and operatively connected to said lever, a finger carried by said yoke and adapted to enter the path of said lever, a knob carried by said yoke and extending to the exterior of said housing for independent actuation of said yoke.

6. A circuit control device comprising in con'ibination with a housing and a switch mounted therein, a lever pivoted in said housing and connected to the blade of said switch, a yoke slidably mounted in the housing and operatively connected to said lever, a linger carried by said yoke and adapted to enter the path of said lever, a lock attached to said housing, a bolt connected to said yoke and adapted to enter said lock, a knob carried by said yoke and extending to the exterior of said housing for independent actuation 01 said yoke.

'7. A circuit control device comprising in combination with a housing and a switch mounted therein, a lever pivoted in said housing, a link connection between said lever and the blade of said switch, a slide mounted in said housing and operatively connected to said lever, and a finger carried by said slide and adapted to enter the path of said lever.

8. A circuit control device comprising in combination with a housing and a switch mounted therein, a lever pivoted in said housing, a link connection between said lever and the blade of said switch, a slide mounted in said housing and operatively connected to said lever, a finger carried by said slide and adapted to enter the path of said lever, a lock attached to said housing, and a bolt connected to said slide and adapted to enter said lock.

9. A circuit control device comprising in combination with a housing and a switch mounted therein, a lever pivoted in said housing, a link connectionbetween said lever and the blade of said switch, a slide mount-ed combination with a housing and a switch mounted therein, a lever pivoted in said housing, a link connection between said lever and the blade of Said Switch, a slide mounted in said housing and operatively connected to said lover, a finger carried by said slide and adapted to enter the path of said lever, a

lock attached to said housing, a bolt connested tov said slide and adapted to enter said look, a knobv carried by 'said slide and 10 extending to the exterior of the housing for independent actuation of said slide.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my J hand;

GEORGES FORTIN. 

